Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Show

Wow, July was my last update?  I need to tie a string around my finger to remember to post more updates.

I cant think of anything specific off the top of my head that Ive done since then except drive the car, its been running really nice.

Though I have acquired...
A set of 70 power steering brackets.
An AC condenser
A 70 upper AC compressor bracket
Just ordered a new drier/accumulator

I should also soon have the correct 70 Lower AC compressor bracket

Then Im ready to bolt everything in place and see if I can get some cold air!


This past weekend was the Daytona Turkey Run.  There were over 4800 cars.  Amazing!
I spent most of my time in the vendor section.  Picked up a trunk lid, new brake booster, and lower control arms/bushings/boxing kit.



Tuesday, July 10, 2012

A step closer to popping the motor out

Another score from Craigslist
2 Ton Lift
1250 lb stand

Hope to re-sell the stand as I already have one (or three LOL)


Monday, June 11, 2012

Chip Foose! I still cant believe it!

The weekend of June 2-3, I was lucky enough to attend a car show.  But no ordinary car show.  This one was hosted at Downtown Disney by The Muscle Car Network of Central Florida and Disney.  What made this even more special was that Chip Foose would be there to sign autographs, take pictures and be a celebrity judge!

Cars had to be in place early, so we had to be there at 6:30 am both Saturday and Sunday mornings.  The show ran until 6pm.  I had an awesome spot assigned to me in front of the AMC Theater on the streets of Downtown Disney.




Peyton was just as excited as I was and she got to meet Chip first!  She happened to be in the right place at the right time. 










And later that day, it was my turn!












That afternoon, it was time for judging.  Here's a shot of Chip Foose and Jay Ward from Pixar taking a look at my car. I did not win any awards, but thats because there were some very fine cars in the show.  The cars that got awards were very deserving.








Saturday night there was a dinner we could attend with Chip, and I could not miss it. What a guy!  I brought a shirt I bought years ago for Peyton. Now it fits Paul, and Chip drew a roadster on it!






















I also brought a couple photograph mats, so that I could have a picture of Chip, myself and my car framed.  One for me, one for Dad.  That picture is on order, and I should have it soon! 

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

A car show with Chip Foose!

Can you believe it!  Chip Foose! (www.chipfoose.com)
I dont get starstruck for anyone but ever since the first time I saw Chip on TV I fell in love with his work.
Overhaulin was/is my favorite show on TV.  Its coming back for a new season too on the Velocity channel.
For years now Ive always said that I'd love to meet him.  Those that know me know that the majority of my wardrobe is comprised of Foose Design T-Shirts LOL.  And for the event, the whole family will be wearing them.

The event is a car show at Down Town Disney, West Side June 2-3.
http://musclecarflorida.ning.com/events/downtown-disney-car-master-ll



You cab skip to 12:57 on this one


Its a small event, just 125 cars.  But the venue will be fantastic. 

Chip will be there on Saturday hanging out with the 125 cars and their owners, and will be signing autographs and taking pictures with the cars.  Laugh if you want LOL but this is a dream come true for me.




Tuesday, April 24, 2012

That Damn Noise!

So after replacing the springs I still had the same 'crack' or 'pop' noise on the front passenger side.
At the show in Daytona I was able to reproduce the noise for the 'Buick Guys'
We could not see anything moving, but could 'feel' the noise was more prevalent in the lower ball joint.
So that weekend I picked up new lower ball joints and rented the ball joint press from Autozone.

Monday night I started....No turning back at this point












The lower joint separated from the spindle with ease.  But the upper was a pain in the ...you know what.  But eventually I prevailed and it separated.  I grabbed the bottom joint, it was stiff, and not smooth but didn't seem too bad.  But when I moved the upper... I knew I found my problem...  Listen to this...



So guess what..... off to Autozone to get the upper ball joints too.  They had them in stock!

The upper joint is bolted in, was easily removed and replaced.  Here's the new one.











But the lower, is pressed into the lower control arm.  The press I rented was not quite big enough to fit over the receiver tubes on both sides but I managed to get the old out and new in by pressing directly on the joint casing with a small piece of steel between the joint and the press.







Here's the new lower one installed.













I inspected both joints once I had them off the car.  The lower joint did not have much grease in it at all.  And the upper had none in it!!!   Here you can see inside the grease nipple hole, and its dry in there. 














So.  To make sure there was enough grease in each joint, I went and bought a grease gun and gave each joint (new on passenger side and old-new on the drivers side) a good dose of grease.

Then came the test drive.  Picture it, my neighborhood, perfect weather, 70°, sunny, windows down, wonderful 455 rumble, arm out the window, people looking at you as you drive by..... and no suspension noise!!

Finally I have succeeded.

Air Cleaner Restored

My air cleaner, specific to the GS, was not the nicest.  I got another one that was much better.  No rust and better plastic pieces.  I added a new GS455 sticker, new air cleaner and new foams
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Friday, March 30, 2012

Finally replaced the front springs - nothing to it

Here's a video of the suspension noise I was having


From discussion on V8Buick.com, and talking to other Buick guys, I knew the problem was the springs. Its one of those problems where people tell you what to check, but you cannot picture it.

So for a $22 diagnosis, Pepboys immediately heard and saw the problem and I got to stand under the car for the first time. The springs were in right side up, but they were clocked wrong. The end of the coil was about 3" past the 'peep hole'
To remove and replace the springs (I had new ones) Pepboys wanted $108/hr and said it was almost a 3 hr job. I declined as I had thought about doing them myself anyway.

After the mechanic at Pepboys showed me what was wrong, how the spring was not clocked right, I could immediately see the problem.
My first idea was to use a spring compressor and compress the spring in place, then twist it to the proper location and release.
I rented a spring compressor at Autozone, but I could not get it into the spring though the coils or up though the lower control arm.

The scary part, besides not having done any spring work before, was reading about springs that pop out and fly around the garage taking a chunk of your skin with it. After all the springs are huge and under a lot of pressure

For anyone planning to do this.. here's the basic steps I took.

Raise the car and support it on the frame behind the front wheels
Let the front wheels hang
Remove the brake caliper and hang it, I used some wire to tie it to the frame
Remove the top shock bolt
Remove the bottom shock bolts and slide out the shock
The sway bar can get in the way, at the very least you'll have to remove the end links. I loosened the bushing brackets too

Remove the cotter pin in the upper ball joint bolt
Loosen the castellated nut - my ball joints are new enough that the pressure from the spring was enough to separate the joint
You may need to smack the knuckle with a hammer or use a pickle fork to separate. if using a pickle fork take care in not destroying the rubber boot if you don't want to repalce the ball joint too.

At this point, I took all the safety considerations I read about and I did put a change though the spring and lower control arm and bolted the ends

Put a floor jack under the lower control arm, and take the weight off the spring.
The upper ball joint should get loose now, and you can likely remove the castellated nut by hand

Stand away from the wheel well opening, the handle of my floor jack was at the front
Slowly lower the jack and the ball joint will separate. Keep lowering
The spring will 'pop' loose as shown



When I did the other side, I didn't realize I put the chain around the sway bar too..it kept the control arm from lowering fully
Seeing how uneventful the passenger side was I had the guts to push on it, thats when I realized the chain was too tight.




So I removed the chain, and the spring popped right out



Here's what it looks like, with the spring removed
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To put the new spring back in, push it up in the upper spring pocket, there are a couple tabs up there that fit inside the spring to keep it centered.
Hold the spring and lift the lower control arm, aligning the bottom of the spring into the lower spring pocket. It went in with a 'snap'
It does not fit in there easily, so get your jack under the control arm to take the weight.
I then used a 3ft pry bar, to pry the spring into the pocket.
I got both springs aligned on that 'peep hole' on the first try
Once the spring is in, jack up the lower arm and guide the ball joint into the spindle
Put on the castellated nut, tighten and replace the cotter pin
Remove your jack.
Put the brakes back on
Put the shock back on

After both sides are done, put the sway bar back on

The job took me about 4 hrs
That included staring at the springs for a while to decide if I was actually going to do it
And gathering tools and cleaning up the garage
With help it would go much faster.

The springs I removed were Hotchkis
I really didn't have any issues with the ride, but decided for factory springs to go back in.
The Hotchkis springs are really heavy duty, and just a little shorter than the replacements, but I never felt the car was low in the front

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Only one booboo too... When I was taking the castellated nut of the passenger side ball joint, the wrench slipped off and I scrapped my arm on the wheel well molding. A very minor scratch but it bleed like I dont know what. One of those cuts you get where there's zero pain, but you sure look like a tough guy with blood running down your arm and dripping on the floor LOL

All back together now

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And on all 4 wheels

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Test drive today at lunch time!!!!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Front Springs

Since I got the Buick, every now and then, Id get a crack or pop noise from the front springs, more-so on the passenger side. I had checked all nuts and bolts, everything is tight, the car has all new bushings, springs, ball joints, tie rods etc so I was not too concerned to drive it.

Finally I had enough, discussed with a couple 'Buick' guys and consensus was that either the springs are not oriented right or their upside down. I could not find any pictures, including Google and the 70 service manual, on how the spring was to be positioned so I had no idea what I was looking at.

I stopped at a garage thats close by on Wednesday, told the guy my issue, he says "Oh you need to talk to Bob". So Bob comes out and the first thing I think is... "Oh good, Bob is at least older than the car" LOL

Bob seems knowledgeable, we chat for 10 mins, tells me he's restored a few chevelles and a cutlass etc. Nice guy. Gives me a good vibe.. and tells me to come back at 8am on Friday.
So this morning, I was up at the crack of crow piss, and on my way
The damn car never made a crack or pop the whole way up there...

Anyway, I see Bob, couple cars ahead of me but they pull the Buick in pretty quick. All the service guys are around it looking LOL Im standing back, outside, watching from 50 ft away... they start bouncing the car.. as sure as there's shit in a cat, it cracks on every bounce.. thank god


The lift arms come out and up goes the car
They guy knew exactly what he was looking for.
The springs are in the right way up.. but they are not clocked correctly.
The top of the spring has the last coil ground flat, as the spring pocket in the chassis is flat.
The bottom of the spring however has just a cut coil, and that cut end needs to fit into a slot in the bottom control arm.
Both springs are way past this slot.




Bob brings out the book for labor hrs.. and the book says 2.5 hrs to replace the springs.
Since they are aftermarket Hotchkis, I already had a factory set to go back in.
And at $108/hr I politely declined. The diagnosis was only $22..cheap!

So its not a difficult fix, just need to let go the ball joints, pop out the spring, put in the new, and jack up the lower arm again to assemble the ball joints.
I was never worried about the process to remove/replace the spring, but I had no idea until seeing it today on how to seat it correctly. Now I know and I'll be doing it myself.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Heads are primed

The heads cleaned up well. Some time with paint stripper (being carefull not to get any inside the valve cover area) and wire brushing was worth the effort.

IMG_2005

Also notice that because the heads are of the 1972 vintage they have a '72' cast into the number 1 cylinder exhaust port. This is highly visable when you open the hood. So I removed it. Afterwards I had to 'texture' the metal so it looked more original as grinding the numbers off made it really smooth.

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Taped up

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And primed

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Next step - Spray with Buick Red high heat paint
But I may wait until the motor as a whole is assembled as thats the way it was done from the factory.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Heads are back!

Picked up the heads today.
Cleaned and degreased
2 new valves
New oil seals

I cant wait to wire brush them and spray with high heat primer and Buick Red!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Good Vibrations??

On Saturday I went to OldTown.
I was the last one there, thats why you dont see any cars behind me.

DSC00344

Met my cousins husband Paul - another certified car nut.
It was a good time, there were a couple hundred cars, and we participated in the parade of cars where all the cars in the show start up and cruise the streets of old town. The streets are lined off with 100's of people watching the cars.

This was the first real highway trip I had done in the car, and there were major vibrations!
I discussed with a few buddies and we all agreed the cheapest thing to do first was balance the drive shaft. So out it came.

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My friend Mike dropped it off at Advanced Driveline. Their initial inspection showed at least one bad universal joint, and a dent in the tube, which to them looked like a torque twist. Who knew I was making power like that LOL! We decided to replace the universals and see if it would balance. It would not. So a new tube was in order.

I met Mike, and picked up the completed drive shaft, I sanded, primed, and gave it a nice coat of semi gloss black.

iphone 024

I was very excited to install it.. and what a difference!
Its like night and day! Its like a new car!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

A warm Tuesday Night

11 pm and still warm out
Not bad for January





I installed the heat riser tube tonight.
Had to paint and put on the mount for it (the new bright red piece above the exhaust manifold).
Also found a 90° elbow for the bottom of the air cleaner snorkel to attach the other end.

I had an after market throttle return spring bracket and it was too tall (hitting the elbow) so I cut that down and painted it too.
Also put on a correct 70 throttle cable bracket which took up the slack in my gas pedal - I should be able to really floor it now!



Last weekend when Dad was here, I took off the generic chrome air cleaner and we "did up" the GS air cleaner. The plastic snorkels are not supposed to be painted but they were not in the greatest shape, so I sanded out the defects and sprayed it all. I may pick up some dark charcoal paint to re-do the plastic pieces to be closer to the plastic color. A new GS455 decal too. Topped it off with a new air filter.

I put the chrome air cleaner and old filter on the motor on the test stand





With the rebuilt stock style distributor and the electronic kit, I can feel that it runs smoother and a little more responsive too... happy with that for sure.
The 1.25" front sway bar, bushings and end links Dad and I put on have had a noticeable effect too